Graduation

There are certain things that when you are reminded of them, they immediately take you back to a time or place. It may be something that brings up a good memory, or a specific period of time that leaves you longing for the past. In 2008 I was a senior in highschool, and most importantly a teenager filled with angst, insecurities, and all of the other ingredients that make for the perfect teenage emotional rollercoaster. In that time of your life you're making the transition from a teen to an “adult” (lol) and of course like any 17 year old I needed a soundtrack for my glow up and that was provided by Mr. Kanye West. When graduation first released… I missed the boat, I knew there were songs that I enjoyed from the album but I was never particularly interested in listening to the full album, that was until summer time came. The summer going into my senior year of high school was exciting, I was close to graduating, I could finally drive, and I finally got to play football! During the long summer workouts music is sometimes the only thing that keeps you going, the coaches were kind enough to allow the senior players to make the playlists for workouts and while all of the songs did the job, there was one in particular that I kept wanting to hear again and again… Kanye West's “Cant tell me nothing”. Can't tell me nothing was a roaring song of defiance, pure self confidence, and a take on the world attitude, and that was exactly how I felt as a senior in highschool. After a few workouts I knew I needed to download the song, so I fired up the Dell desktop and went surfing. Once I found the song I downloaded the rest of the album just in case there were any others that I really enjoyed. After listening to can't tell me nothing 47 times I was ready to digest the entire album. From start to finish I was absolutely blown away, every song felt as though they were speaking to me or something that I felt inside of myself. Kanye talked about all of his feelings and how he overcame these things in such a defiant manner stick with me and it was something that I tried to apply to my own life. Graduation will always bring back the memories of that time and will always hold a place at the top of my mantle when I list my favorite albums.